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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28672863">She’s Too Good For Me</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShellyNelsonLahey/pseuds/ShellyNelsonLahey'>ShellyNelsonLahey</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Riverdale (TV 2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Beggie, F/M, beronica friendship, mentioned Jeronica</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:28:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,075</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28672863</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShellyNelsonLahey/pseuds/ShellyNelsonLahey</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge are doing their homework at Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe when Reggie Mantle and Archie Andrews come in and Reggie, unknowingly, admits his feelings for the blonde teenager.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Betty Cooper &amp; Reggie Mantle, Betty Cooper x Reggie Mantle, Betty Cooper/Reggie Mantle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>She’s Too Good For Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Sometimes I get into moods to write for other non-canon ships and last night I randomly had the urge to work on this and just so happened to finish it! I’m so proud of this because it’s so, so cute and I can show it to you all 🥺🥺</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Two large milkshakes, vanilla and chocolate, with a big basket of fries, please?” Veronica Lodge twirled sweetly towards Pop as if she were a child asking her parents for money to buy a popsicle at the passing ice cream truck. Pop beamed with the rays of a thousand suns, which was typical of him. Pop Tate was the embodiment of sunshine, and it really shone with his bright smile. “Betty and I have to do our homework, but there is <em>no way</em> we’re trudging through it without delicious backup.”</p>
<p>“Comin’ right up, Miss Lodge.” Pop tipped his hat, “oh, and your usual table is taken so you’re going to have to find another booth to occupy, is that alright?”</p>
<p>Betty didn’t like sitting anywhere other than <em>their</em> booth, but it’s not like they could kick out the cute family she observed having a blast all just so they could sit where they normally sat. It wasn’t that serious. “Yeah, we’ll just find a table somewhere else. It’ll feel weird, but, hey, life’s an adventure that pushes you to get out of your comfort zone, right?”</p>
<p>“Right!” Veronica looped her arm through Betty’s, and together they spun around to figure out where their temporary new booth was going to be. “How about right here? It’s on the other side of the shoppe, but the sun will be hitting it soon and I'd love to take a small break later for selfies during golden hour.”</p>
<p>Normally, Betty didn’t care for showing off her beauty with selfies or taking advantage of “golden hour,” but she couldn’t help and admire her best friend’s excitement for something that happened essentially every day. Betty was just bouncing back from a cold, so she figured it would be nice to feel alive again and allow herself to embrace nature’s gift.</p>
<p>The girls sat opposite one another and shrugged their backpacks off, zipping them open and displaying their homework over the table. They made sure to keep room for not only each other, but their food, too. Veronica faced the door, but Betty’s dark blue hoodie made it hard to see past unless she squirmed to the side a little bit.</p>
<p>“I’m going to do math, what about you?” Veronica flipped open her yellow folder labeled “Math” in typical pretty and girly writing, and brought out a few worksheets with problems all over it, then turned the equally as lemony spiral notebook to a fresh page. “I’m trying to get past the worst first. Besides, when we get our shakes and fries, i’ll have an excuse to let my brain rewire itself for a minute or two.”</p>
<p>“I was going to work on debate, but I think you’re right—I should do the worst first.” Betty could smell the fries cooking in the kitchen, and unconsciously swiped her tongue over her lips. “So I guess we’re both going to be doing math first. But debate is probably next. I have to write an argument for the death penalty.”</p>
<p>“Don’t you love debate?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, but I don’t feel like writing out different talking points right now,” Betty groaned, throwing her head onto her crossed sleeves. “I have to use my laptop and find multiple articles to back up my side. Greasy, salty fries and laptop keys do not mix well, either.”</p>
<p>“Oh! There’s this awesome invention called a napkin. It wipes away the grease and salt from your fingers.”</p>
<p>Betty curled her lip in playful annoyance. “Work on your problems, not mine.”</p>
<p>For the next three and a half minutes the two sat in silence, tongues poking out of their mouths in concentration working problem over problem, scribbling answer after answer. It hadn’t even been that long but both of them were done with math already. Mentally, not physically. Betty was nearing the bottom of the first page, whereas Veronica had only finished two lines. There was no time to ask if everything was okay because Pop was on his way with their food.</p>
<p>“Here you go, ladies.” Pop set down the big red basket of fries between them, then placed down their respective milkshakes. “If you girls need anything else, give me a holler, you hear?”</p>
<p>“Thanks, Pop!” The girls smiled politely with a short wave until he turned back towards the flaps that lead behind the counter.</p>
<p>“Is everything okay, V?” Betty distractedly chewed on the metal of her pencil. “You’re usually very good at math, but you’ve only done two lines.”</p>
<p>Veronica cocked her head back as if she was surprised. “What? No. Yeah. Everything’s fine.”</p>
<p>Even without detective skills, it was clear that the Lodge was lying. But if Veronica wasn’t ready to share, she wasn’t going to force it out of her. So, Betty took a quick sip of her vanilla milkshake before shifting her focus on the question she left off on.</p>
<p>Veronica slammed down her pencil and closed her book, then leaned forward, “okay, fine, i’ll tell you. But you can’t tell anyone, alright?”</p>
<p>Betty wanted to get her work done, but she also had to be a good friend. And that meant listening to whatever was filling Veronica’s thoughts. If it bothered her so much so that she couldn’t focus on her work, then hopefully she could help ease her mind. “As long as it’s not illegal or would have to make me tell the police because I’m worried about you, your secret is safe with me.”</p>
<p>“Let’s say, hypothetically, Jughead and I have been hooking up recently?”</p>
<p>“You’re hooking up with my step brother?” Betty gaped, mouth practically falling onto the table.</p>
<p>Veronica widened her eyes. “Shh! Maybe say it again with a bullhorn, why don’t you...”</p>
<p>“Sorry.” The blonde apologized, shaking her mistake away. “When did this happen? Are you the reason he’s been less annoying? Honestly, I should have known when he asked me to help him pick out nice clothes. He told me it was for a job interview, but I’m beginning to think he took you on a date.”</p>
<p>A blush creeped over Veronica’s cheeks, which was just the silent admission she needed.</p>
<p>“We drove an hour outside of Riverdale to a seafood restaurant. It was fantastic.” Veronica beamed, and Betty could tell she was genuinely happy with Jughead. “And afterwards we went for ice cream and drove back blasting music with the windows down. He is the last person I ever thought I'd enjoy dating but… I really like him.”</p>
<p>Betty smiled, proud for her best friend. “I’m glad. He could use someone like you to keep that egghead on track. He clearly likes you too, or else he wouldn’t have asked for my help to pick out something snazzy.”</p>
<p>“You think so?”</p>
<p>“Trust me, I know so. Jughead is a private person, yet oddly easy to read,” Betty chuckled gently. “Why don’t you invite him to study with us? I can move to another booth if you want.”</p>
<p>“No! Chicks before dicks, B.” Betty playfully rolled her eyes at the line, but Veronica was dead serious. Although, after a few moments she reached a hand over towards the other end of the table and held Betty’s hand in a genuine manner. “But thank you for letting me get that off of my chest. It’s been eating at me.”</p>
<p>“Of course, V.” Betty let the moment go on or a few more moments, softly caressing her friend’s skin with her thumb, then cleared her throat and decided to get back to business. “Now let’s try to hurry up and finish these problems so we can eat our fries before they get cold.”</p>
<p>“<em>Or</em> we can eat our fries and put off our math homework for a few more minutes.” Veronica raised her eyebrows in agreement at her own suggestion, gently scooting her paperwork to the side to make more room for her food. “Yeah… I like that idea better.”</p>
<p>Betty chuckled, shaking her head. “Well, when I finish and you’re still working on your math problems, I am not giving you the answers.”</p>
<p>“Fine by me, Miss Betty Cooper.”</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>It had been about half an hour now, and the sun was beginning to set. Betty decided to work on her debate homework last, most likely later when she got home, and chose to instead pull out her history worksheets and the book that was needed to find the answers to the questions. Veronica had finished her math problems fifteen-ish minutes ago, and was trying to focus on a biology sheet that she hadn’t finished in class. It wasn’t exactly homework, but it needed to be done because it went along with the lab they did that day in class. However, she dropped it quickly as she realized golden hour was upon them, and began to swat Betty to get her to join the other side of the booth for selfies.</p>
<p>“Just let me finish this sentence, i’m almost done!” Betty whined, circling her shoulder to get Veronica to stop. “I just have to put down… this last… fact.” She slowed down her words as she was writing them, ending with a period. “Okay. Now I can join you for golden hour.”</p>
<p>“Yay!” Veronica squealed, scooting as close to the window as she could so Betty had room to join her side of the booth.</p>
<p>And soon after, Veronica had acquired what seemed like a million photos of essentially the same pose: both girls smiling into the camera with a golden glow softly highlighting their features. The only difference in some of them were Veronica’s hair, and Betty taking off her hood. Otherwise, the past minute or so’s pictures weren’t all that different.</p>
<p>But Betty did thoroughly enjoy a lot of the selfies Veronica had scrolled through. The sunshine made her look absolutely stunning, like she wasn’t as pale as a vampire the day before with a cold. She was aware she was pretty, but it was moments like these that she really, truly believed it. If she could, she’d date both herself and Veronica.</p>
<p>“As fun as it’d be to go through every single picture you took, I should probably get back to work on History. But let me see which ones you post first, or I'll report it.” Betty playfully threatened, which Veronica knew wasn’t what she was actually going to do. Betty wasn’t one of those girls who obsessed over what she looked like in group photos, not unless you purposefully chose the one where her eyes were closed, or something unflattering along that line, and Veronica knew that.</p>
<p>A minute later, Veronica had chosen a few favorites and highlighted them for Betty before sliding her phone across the table for the blonde to look over. All three were beautiful and she loved them, but one made her heart jump at how cute they looked. Betty’s glasses were on top of her head, and she loved the way her hair looked. So, she chose that one, and handed the phone back. “Okay, i’m cold again, i’m putting my sweatshirt back on.”</p>
<p>Veronica laughed gently. “Thank you for taking it off for the <a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ErYyhicUUAUFCrn?format=jpg&amp;name=large">picture</a>. I know you don’t really care for pictures, but it was a nice gesture.”</p>
<p>“I mean, I'm glad I did. I look fucking sexy.” Betty pursed her lips teasingly, ocean eyes skimming over the History textbook for the answer to her current question.</p>
<p>“Posted!” Veronica cheered, placing her phone down away from her. “Okay. no more distractions… I need to get this done.”</p>
<p>Her statement had worked for a few minutes. That was, until the bell at the entrance of Pop’s rang through the establishment and broke her concentration. And when she perked up, Betty couldn’t help but notice. She didn’t get to ask who had walked in, though, because Reggie Mantle’s voice was pretty loud in the shoppe.</p>
<p>“She hasn’t been to school for the last two days, which means she hasn’t gotten my note, Arch,” Reggie huffed, sliding into one of the many bar stools at the front, his back facing both Betty and Veronica.</p>
<p>Archie joined in beside him, clapping his friend on the back to soothe him. “Well, then at least you know she’s not ignoring you.”</p>
<p>“And if for some reason, she is?”</p>
<p>“Betty’s not like that.”</p>
<p>At the mention of her name, Betty froze, tilting her head a little as she continued to listen in, although much harder than she was when she first picked up Reggie and Archie’s conversation.</p>
<p>“Oh my God…” Veronica whispered, excited. “They’re talking about you. Oh my God!”</p>
<p>“Shh! I can’t focus on what they’re saying,” Betty chastised, and was grateful Veronica listened and peeped into the boy’s conversation as well.</p>
<p>“I know you said she’s sick, but how long is she going to be sick for? I’m getting anxious about my note.” Reggie frustratedly ran his hands through his dark locks. “Do you think i’d be able to break into her locker and take it before she comes back to school?”</p>
<p>“Dude, you need to chill. I have been Betty’s best friend since childhood, and you’ve also grown up with her. You’re acting like she’s disgusted by you or something.”</p>
<p>“Is she? Did she say something to you? Oh, God, I just want to crawl into a hole and die and never face anyone ever again!” Reggie groaned, clearly losing it. “She’s going to find my note, know that I like her, and she’ll politely tell me she hates my guts because she’s Betty Cooper and she’s too good for me.”</p>
<p>“I love Betty, but she’s not perfect, Reg.” Archie chuckled. “She’s a human being, just like you, just like me. Just like everybody in here. She makes mistakes, she judges people by their looks sometimes, she tries to be so good for everybody around her, and while she succeeds, it probably kills her inside. She’s just… Betty.”</p>
<p>After Archie had mentioned the people inside the shoppe, Reggie glanced over everybody and his heart dropped seeing Veronica working in the booth by the window, with somebody in a light blue hoodie. And it was obvious she had heard everything they were saying. “Veronica… um… how long have you… been there?”</p>
<p>Veronica perked up, pretending she hadn’t been listening in. “Mmmhm? What? Oh, I’ve been so engrossed with my homework, I didn’t notice you two there. What’s up?”</p>
<p>Archie narrowed his eyes, then looked down at his phone. “You just recently posted to Instagram. I have notifications on for you.” After a moment or two, his breathing hitched and he showed Reggie the picture.</p>
<p>Betty felt bad for them, for Reggie, mostly. He was confessing his crush on Betty to Archie without knowing she was right there, listening in. Guilt thrummed through her heart, causing her to sigh in defeat, take down her hood, and turn to face the boys. “Archie’s right, i’m not perfect, Reg.”</p>
<p>“I’m going to throw up.” Reggie ran his hands over his face in an attempt to hide the creeping blush heating his cheeks, but to no avail, Betty had already noticed. “Is there any way we can all just mutually pretend I didn’t just spill my guts like a dumbass in a public setting where you normally can be found?”</p>
<p>Veronica spoke, “well, that depends…”</p>
<p>“On what?” Archie questioned.</p>
<p>“If Betty likes Reggie back, or is at least willing to give them a try.” Veronica raised her eyebrows expectantly towards the blonde, nonchalantly sipping at her chocolate milkshake. “If she does, cool, they talk about it and go from there. If not, well, I’d be willing to pretend I didn’t hear Reggie being a big ole’ softie.”</p>
<p>Betty hid her own blush, and a rising smile, with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. Of course she liked Reggie. The two had grown up with one another, even though he was more Archie’s friend than hers, he sometimes came off as an asshole, but really she knew he was a big, soft teddy bear of a football player and that is precisely why she liked him. Reggie Mantle was cute—hell, he was <em>hot</em> and everybody including himself knew it. She never in a million years thought he’d like her back. She talked herself out of it long ago, but with his confession her feelings came flooding back like a broken dam.</p>
<p>Forcing herself to step out of her comfort zone, Betty brought her hand down and refused to cover her face, refusing to let her bashful thinking get in the way of something she used to dream of. “I look forward to reading your note, Reg. I’ve been sick the last few days, and Veronica brought me all of my homework so I can catch up before I go back tomorrow… but once that’s over and done with, I'd like to go on a real date.”</p>
<p>“Really?” Reggie looked taken aback, and Betty couldn’t help but giggle at that. “Why are you… why are you laughing?”</p>
<p>“Because you’re the most sought after jock at Riverdale High and here you are, surprised that I like you back. If anyone should be surprised, it’s me,” Betty stifled her chuckles as best as she could. “You know, I used to be head over heels for you, but I assumed you’d never be into me so I forced myself to try and get over you… I never knew why the universe just couldn’t let me do that and I guess now we know why.”</p>
<p>Reggie smiled, “yeah… thank God for that.”</p>
<p>“Do you boys want to join us? There’s not much room, but we can do our best to accommodate,” Veronica offered, looking to Betty for permission.</p>
<p>“As long as I can finish my homework, I don’t mind. But if Reggie tries to steal one of my fries, he’s losing a finger.”</p>
<p>Reggie sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Damn, Cooper… you don’t have to worry about that, I’m buying my own fries. Plus, I was planning for my hands to be occupied with yours.”</p>
<p>Betty tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Oh…”</p>
<p>He slid into the booth beside her with a grin so wide she could feel his aching cheeks. “But if you’re not down…”</p>
<p>“No, no, I never said that!” Betty hastily smiled, allowing him to intertwine his fingers through her free hand. “Now that you mention it, though, I think I remember saying that you shouldn’t let go.”</p>
<p>“Yeah?” He beamed. “Okay, Betts. Whatever you say.”</p>
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